Automatic sprinkler.



N0. 654,!88. Patented. July 24, I900. W. H. STRA-TTDN.

AUTOMATIC SPRINKLER.

(Application filed Fab. 4, 1897.) (No Model.)

WILLIAM H. STRATTON, OF'HARTFORD, connncrrcur- AUTOMATIC SPRINKLER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 654,188, dated July 24, 1900.

Application filed February 4, 1897. Serial No. 621,953. (No model.) i

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. STRATTON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Sprinklers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, whereby any one skilled in the art can make and use the same.

The object of my invention is to provide a sprinkler of the general class used on lines of piping in a building as a means of providing for the wide distribution and dispersion of the fluid contents of the pipe in case of fire in the building, which device is simple in construction and useful in factories, machine-shops, paper-mills, dye-houses, chemical works, or any like places without danger of becoming inoperative by reason of any corrosive action of acid or of alkaline fumes. Many of the devices of this class embody a movable valve held in place by a fusible or sectional strut or brace, such valve-holding part being united to a fixed part of the structure by a fusible seal which melts at a comparatively-low temperature. One object of my invention is to provide a sprinkler of this class with a stopple which is opened under any predetermined degree of heat, but which does not involve the use of any distinct valve or of rigid valve-holding parts.

To this end my invention consists in the device as a whole, in the combination of parts, and in the details and their combination, as hereinafter described, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l is a View in side elevation of my improved sprinkler. Fig. 2 is a view in vertical central section through the sprinkler-body. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the sprinkler-body with the distributer cut away. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the sprinkler-body with the cap removed.

In the accompanying drawings the letter a denotes the sprinkler-body, which may be of metal cast or turned to shape and with a threaded stem 1), which serves as a means for securing the device in the threaded opening in'a pipe or like source of fluid-supply. The fluid way 0 through the body of the sprinkler is preferably without any obstruc tion for a space equal to the diameter of the fluid-way, except that the stopple dis located in the mouth of this fluid-way and efiectually closes it, except when the sprinkler is in use 'for extinguishing fires. The mouth of the fluid-way is preferably enlarged to receive a portion of the stopple, which is located in the mouth of the opening. Athin annular plate e, preferably of metal, is secured on the face of the sprinkler-body preferably by clamping it between the face of the sprinkler-body, as by means of screws passing through openings in the cap and in the plate and extended into the threaded sockets in the sprinkler-body. The cap has a central dome-shaped projection g, in which there is a central opening g, the edge of this opening forming a seat for the stopple cl, which is inserted from the lower side and held in part within the recess in the body. Spreader-arms h may be formed on or attached to the cap, and they so pport a spreader or distributer t', which is held in the path of the outflowing fluid and serves to break it up into small streams or spray as it flows through the fluid-wayin the sprinkler. The

stopple d rests on the edge of the opening 1 through the plate 6, as wellas against its seat formed by the edge of the opening through the dome g, this term dome being meant to describe any form of stopple-holding device on the cap. The plate eis preferably so thin as to be flexible to a limited degree to provide for slight variations in the form or dimension of the stopple, which is preferably spherical in shape.

All of the exposed parts of the splinkler except the stopple have their-surfaces coated or covered with a thin layer of vitreous material or enamel thoroughly baked on, so as to protect such parts from the corrosive action of acid or alkaline fumes or vapors. The stopple d is formed, preferably, of a vitreous or easily-frangible material, as glass, and with thin walls, which are readily broken by the expansive force of any suitable substance or composition of mattercontained and sealed within the stopple. Sucha material as.mer= cury has been found to answer very well the purpose of a' bursting charge which will expand to the desired degree and with sufficient force to break the walls of the stopple when apredetermined degree of heat is applied.

The operation of my device is as follows:

The plate having been placed on the face of the sprinkler-body, the stopplelocated in the central opening in the plate, the cap placed over the stopple and plate, and these parts securely fastened together, as by means of screws, so that the stopple is held between the plate and the cap and in the mouth of the fluid-way, the application of a certain amount of heat causes the walls of the stopple to be broken into small pieces, which are driven out in front of the moving volume of fluid under pressure from within'the pipe or structure to which the sprinkler is attached, and the outflowing 'fiuid is 'broken into smaller streams or spray by the spreader located directly in its path of movement.

My improved sprinkler diflers from most of those of the prior art in the absence of any valve or strut or a valve-holding part which is held in place by a fusible seal, and it also differs in having all its exposed parts covered with a non-corrosive layer of suitable material,which effectually prevents the working parts of the device from becoming inoperative under any degree or duration of exposure to acid or alkaline fumes or vapors.

I claim as my invention- 1. In combination in a sprinkler, a body part having a fluid-way, an annular springplate located with its central opening registering with the fluid-way, a cap having a central opening registering with the opening in the fluid-way, and a frangible stopple adapted to contain a bursting charge and seated against said spring-plate, closing the opening in the fluid-way and also closing the opening in the cap and having a part projecting through said opening.

2. In combination in a sprinkler, a body part having a fluid-way, an annular springplate located with its central opening registering with the fluid-way, a cap having a central opening forming a seat for a stopple and inclosing said stopple and spring-plate, and a frangible stopple inclosed as to its greater portion within the cap and closing the opening through the spring-plate and cap, and means for securing the cap to the sprinklerbody.

3. In combination in a sprinkler, a body part having a fluid-way, an annular springplate having its central opening registering with the fluid-way, a cap having a central opening forming aseat for a stopple and inelosing said stopple and spring-plate, and a frangible stopple inclosed as to its greater part by said cap and closing the opening through the spring-plate and through the cap an (1. containing a bursting charge sealed therein and adapted to be exploded by heat applied without and about the stopple, and means for securing the cap to the sprinklerbody.

4. In combination in a sprinkler, a body part having a fluid-way, an annular springplate with the opening therethrough registering with the fluid-way, a cap having a central opening forming a seat for a stopple in-. closed as to its greater part within said cap and closing the fluid-way through the cap and spring plate and containing a bursting charge sealed within the stoppleand sensitive to changes of temperature without and about the stopple, the body part and cap be ing coated with a material not sensitive to corrosion.

5. In combination in a sprinkler, a body part having a fluid-way, an annular springplate secured to the face of the body part, a cap having a central opening registering with the fluid-way in the body part and provided with a covering or coating of non-corrosive material as to its outer surface and to a point beyondthe stopple-seat therein, and a frangible stopple seated against the cap and the spring-plate and with a part projecting into the opening in the cap.

6. In combination in a sprinkler, a body part having a fluid-way, a cap secured to the face of the body part and having an opening registering with the fluid-way therein and having a coating of non-corrosive material on its outer surfaceand extending to a point within the cap beyond that part on which a frangible stopple rests, an annular springplate secured between the cap and the body part and projecting within the cap, and a frangible stopple resting against the cap and against theplate and with a part projecting into the opening in the cap.

WILLIAM H. STRATTON. \Vitnesses:

CHAS. L. BURDETT, ARTHUR B. JENKINS. 

